Mortar



J. R. JASSE MORTAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 24, 1947 [L mw M m 2 Vm WMm r g m a w M9/ QIB C II a Q Nu a Q m Jy 2%, 14. v J. R; JASSE 2,77,353

I MORTAR Filed May 24, 1947 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig- f/VVENTUR Jam/vRAY/7M0 was;

41m 21AM A: Arr 7 UNITED PATENT o;

2,477,253 MORTAR J osephRaymond J asse, Paris, France, assignor to'Etablissements Edgar Brandt, Paris, France, a French companyApplication May 24, 1947, Serial No. 750,254 In France July 1, 1946 6Claims. (01. 89-1) 1 2 v The present invention relates to a mortar orappropriate control mechanism, said mortar be- Om rO r a p d to b muzzleleadeding remarkable in particular in that the mecha- S m t s a s OftenProvided t a nism for controlling said percussion device artionarystriker which projects from the end of ranged i a independent casehoused in a rear the gun-barrel and is intended to produce the 5 xt i ofth b ee h i n 0f the prepelling cartridge arran d a This particulararrangement of the controlling t e ar o the p j a 50011 as Said Dmechanism mounted in an independent case has j et by th force o y,impinges on said the main. advantage of enabling, at any instant,striker. in case of failure, said case with its mechanism to However,for various reasons, it may be an adbe replaced quickly by a pare e,

anta for t to be possible in certain cases According to anothercharacteristic of the in-' Operate t Striker y hand- It y happen, evention the independent case is located in a mp t the Cartridgemisfiles; this housing which, as it has to be readily accessible,

dent may be caused, either by the fact that the is wide open for thispurpose on the outer sidecap is faulty, or because the projectile sbrfaked in a radial direction relatively to the axis of the as it fallsinto the gun-hertel and only lmpmges gun, in such a manner that theindependent case On the striker insufilclent force to produce can beemoved and replaced by another case the ignition of the cartridge; thismay Occur if without its being necessary to alter the laying of thefiring angle is small or if the gun-barrel is the gum clogged. If thereis no means for enabling the In a particular embodiment f a device Shotto he fired when the Percussion has h cording to the invention, themechanism for erahedi'recourse has he had to .extractlhg the controllingthe percussion is contained in the molecule from the gun'barr Whlch mayneces' independent case, whereas the percussion device,

Sitate first 9 an removing its inside the constituted for instance by astriker and a rear barrel. It w1ll be understood that this operation,thrust element connected by a hook to said which is delicate, wastesprecious time when the Striker is located i an axial housing provided nmy i at handin the breech body.

h prohlem may be solved byfusing, a m? The fact of dividing thepercussion device into provided with a manually operated firing devicetwo separateelemernts has the advantage of 06m and provided with a meansfor temporarily placa siderably simplifying the construction of the hpoint 3 out of reach of the vice. As the striker. comprises a mechanismwhich car of t e promo operates axially, it is preferably located in aMortars are already known in which a removable finger is interposedbetween the projectile cylmdrical housing. arranged in the axis of theand the stationary striker, an accessory firing g5 device making itpossible to fire the shot at will. Bomb-throwers are also known whichcomprise a controlled percussion mechanism, but which does not permit ofautomatic percussion. The combination, in a single device, of automaticpera cussion and controlled percussion would require a fairlycomplicated mechanism, the various elements of which would have to beseparately in the thickness of the breech body.

The case for controlling the percussion, on the contrary, comprisesmembers which, to enable them to be controlled from the outside, areonly arranged at right angles,

The control mechanism contained inv the percussion case comprises adevice which effects the changerofthe strikerrfrom controlled percussiongun-barrel, and it is quite naturally positioned mounted in the breechof the mortar; in the tb automatic percussion and vi'ce'versa" and eventof failure of this mechanism, the mortar itcontrol device for thecontrolled percussion self would be out of action, which would be aother advantages and peculiarities of the i serious drawback for a.firearm which plays such Veritmn W111 become apparent from the ensulngan important part. descriptwn" The present invention is intended toavoid In h accompanymg drawihgi which 15 glVen these drawbacks and hasfor its object a mortar m by way a cqnstructwnal example, of the typehaving, in its breech, a perc i Fig. 1 shows, in axial sectionrand in ahor1- device which is adapted either to be locked in a Zentel DOS tIOn,the breach of a mortar provided projecting position for efi ti to terwith a striker and a percussion case arranged accussion, or to be mademovable for effecting percording to the invention, the assembly beingincussion which is controlled by the action of an the inoperativeposition.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the percussion case alone, along theline II-II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the percussion case alone.

Referring to said drawing, I is the gun-barrel of a mortar adapted to beloaded through the muzzle; 2 is the breech body; 3 the breech head ofspherical shape, adapted to engage in the recess of a base plate notshown in the drawing; 4 is the tang of the breech connecting the head 3to the body 2. The breech body 2 is provided with a longitudinal hole 6adapted to receive the percussion device; said hole opens respectivelyin the tube I and in a housing tt'menaged'in the tang 4. Said housingwhich is of rectangular parallelepipedic shape opens on the lateral faceof the tang. In said housin is located a removable case I which is shownseparately on Figs. 2 and 3. Said case I is constituted in fact by ablock (see Figs. 2 and 3) provided with a shoutder 5! which engages arebate 5I ofthehousing 8. Said block comprises-two cavities 52' and 53'in communication througha longitudinal hole 54 tFig. l). a

The percussion device, which is movable in'the longitudinal hole 6comprises a-striker 9 which is axiall movable. in a stationary frameIll, and which is urged by a spring ll, through the intermediary of abush I2, towards a rearposition in which its head l3 rests against aseat I4 provided in the frame Ill; said frame [9 is screwed to the endof asleeve-shaped case I5 in which slides behind the striker a boltmember It provided, on the one hand, at. its front end with atransversal hook 16a disposed with a little-gap before the rear head 91:of the striker and, on the other hand at its rear end with a buffer knob"ending in the form of a head IIb. A projection IB' of the sleeve I5outwardly limits the travel of the bolt member IE; 2. spring [9 urgessaid bolt member towards the projection 18.-

The striker 9 is provided, at its front end, with a point 90. which, inthe percussion position, projects outside the frusto-conical housing 20.provided in a cap 21 which is screwed in the breech body 2 andholds thestriker; in its housing.

At its rear end, the striker 9 is provided with abufferknob 9b.- p

In Fig. I, the detonator 9 isshown in'the inoperative position, ready tobe actuated by the control mechanism carried by the case or block 'I'.The change from this positionto the automatic. percussion position andvvice-versa' is effected by a device adapted'to be actuated by means of acontrol knob 22. Said knob 22 is secured, by means of a screw 23, to aninternally screw-threaded sleeve 24 in which is screwed a rod 25 whichis provided at its lower part with a slot 25c and at its upper part witha head 25b sliding in the knob 22 and adapted to project outside saidknob. V j

A bent lever 26, mounted on. a spindle 21, in the cavity 52 of caseLengages with one of its arms 26a in the slot 25a of the rod'25,jagainst the bottom of which it is kept pressed by a spring 28, whereas withtwo other arms 25b, arranged parallel in the shape of a fork straddlingthe buffer knob I! before the rear head I'Ib in a directionat rightangles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the striker, it isadapted toexert a pressure against the bolt member I6.

By screwing the knob 22 on the rod 25, as shown by the arrow A (Fig. 3)said rod is caused to move axially downwards; by means of the bent lever26 the movement is transmitted inthe axial direction to the member I6;said member compresses the spring I9, comes into contact in its turnwith the buffer knob 9b and, continuing its travel, drives back thestriker 9, against the action of the spring II, until the instant whenthe percussion point 9a bears firmly against the tapered bottom ofthehousing 20. By screwing the knob 22 right home, the striker 9 is thuslocked in theautomatic percussion position, the end of its point 9apermanently projecting inside the gun-barrel.

The reverse operation is effected by unscrewing the control knob 22 inthe direction shown by the arrow C (Fig. 3); by the action of thesprings II and I9, the'stri-ker 9 and the bolt member I6 respectivelyreturn to their original positions, as soon; as the bent lever 26 ceasesto exert a pressure on the member I 6, which occurs when, owing to theunscrewing of the knob 22, the rod 25 itself returns to its upperposition.

The position assumed by the striker, i. e. either the automaticpercussion position, or the controlled percussion position, iscontinually shown on the outside by the head 25b of the rod 25 whichacts as a pointer; when said head projects outside the, control knob 22,the striker is in the controlled percussion position, whereas when it iscompleteiy retracted, the striker is locked in the automatic percussionposition.

The control device for controllingthe percussion, which is entirelyenclosed in the removable case I, comprises a hammer 29 movable in thelongitudinal hole 54 of said case. Said hammer, of hollowcylindricalshape, is so arranged as to enable it to strike axially thebuffer knob ll of the bolt member I'G when said hammer 29.is subjectedto the expansion action of the percussion spring 3! housed in itscylindrical part.-

Said hammer is prolonged at its front end bya finger 29awhich ends inthe form of a transversal,

hook, the plane rear face of which is at right angles with respect tothe longitudinal axis of the percussion device and is disposed withsomegap before the rear head Ilb of the bolt member I6 between the twoarms 26b of the lever 26.

The spring St is enclosed between the front'end' spindle 34 which isitself rotarily actuated by a cocking lever 35 (Fig. 3).

A cylindrical sear 36, which is located in the rear cavity 53 of thecase I and continually urged by a spring 31 towards its engagedposition, is so arranged as to engage with its nose 33 in an opening 39provided in the hammer and to lock said hammer while, by the action ofthe cooking lever, the pusher 32 compresses the percussion spring 3|.

A disc 15, which is preferably secured to the finger 33, is fixed on thespindle 34 and is provided with a trip nose 4i arranged so as toimpinge, at the end of its travel, on an abutment 42 secured to the sear36 and is adapted to lift same slightly, thereby disengaging theescapement pawl 98; said pawl releases the hammer 29 which suddenlydrives back the member it against the knob 91; of the striker andproduces the percussion;

The device is automatically returned to' the 7 and its bearing point onthe pusher 33, with a part 44 ,of the hammer forming an abutment. Owingto the difference of leverage between the axis of rotation of the finger33- and these two points of contact, the couple acting, by the action ofthe spring 3!, on the finger 33 is stronger than that acting, in theopposite direction and by the action of this same spring, on the hammer29; said hammer is thus driven back by the cooking finger which isitself returned to the original position by the pusher 32, up to thepoint where the sear 36 engages again and locks the controlledpercussion mechanism.

In this return movement, the hammer 29 carries with it by means of itshook finger 29a, the buffer knob l1 and the bolt member l6, said boltmember in its turn, carrying with it the striker 9 by means of its hookfinger "3a. This arrangement has the advantage of its always beingcertain, when the cocking lever 35 is returned to its starting position,that the striker is not in its automatic percussion position in which itcould otherwise have been locked by seizing for example, the springs IIand 19 not having in that case sufiicient force to retract it of theirown accord, whereas the head 25?) projecting from the control knob 22would nevertheless continue to show the controlled percussion position,which might involve the gunners in serious accidents.

As can be seen in Fig. 1, the cooking finger has, at the point 43 whereit is in contact with the abutment 44 of the hammer, a domed shape suchthat the perpendicular which is common to this shape and to the abutmentof the hammer at their point of contact constantly extends in adirection which is as nearly as possible that of the axis of the hammer,the force applied by the finger to the hammer being thus directed in adirection parallel to said axis.

The cocking device can be locked in the inoperative position by means ofa bolt 46 adapted to engage in a groove 41 of the trip disc 40, saidbolt being secured to a spindle 48 which is controlled from the outsideby means of a knob 49. When said knob 49 is in the direction of arrow A(Fig. 3) the cooking device is unlocked. On the contrary, when said knobis in the direction of arrow S, the cooking device is locked in itsinoperative position and the firearm is thus completely safe.

It is obvious that the invention has only been illustrated and describedby Way of example and that, without exceeding its scope, variousmodifications could be made therein.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a muzzle-loading mortar a gun-barrel and a breech comprising abreech body provided near the front with means for fixing it to thebarrel of said mortar and near the rear with an axial extension providedwith a cavity which is open towards the outside in a radial directionrelatively to the longitudinal axis of the breech, a percussion deviceadapted to move in said breech body between a front position in which itprojects from said body into said barrel in order to enable an automaticpercussion of the cartridge to be fired when said cartridge is insertedinto said barrel and a rear position in which said percussion device isretracted in said body to adapt said percussion device for controlledpercussion of said cartridge, and a removable case housed in said cavityand containing means for moving said percussion device from any of saidpositions to the other and a control device for controlling saidcontrolled percussion by means of said percussion device, said means andcontrol device being in contact with said percussion device, only byplane transversal surfaces perpendicular to said longitudinalaxis ofsaid breech and said control device comprising a hammer adapted to moveaxially in said case and to impinge on the rear end of the percussiondevice when this latter is in its rear position, a percussion springbearing with one of its ends on said hammer on the opposite side to thepercussion device, a pusher bearing against the other end of saidspring, a cooking finger enabling said pusher to be moved in thedirection of the compression of said spring, a cooking lever acting onsaid finger, and a sear detent for locking said hammer until the instantwhen the pressure of said spring is suflicient to produce thepercussion.

2. A breech according to claim 1, wherein said hammer is provided withan opening while said sear detent comprises in combination: a scaradapted to move in said case in a direction at right angles to that ofthe hammer and provided with a pawl adapted to engage in said opening, aspring acting on said sear to cause said pawl to penetrate into saidopening, and means provided on said cocking lever for retracting saidpawl at the end of the cocking stroke of said pusher and therebyreleasing the hammer.

3. A breech according to claim 1, wherein said hammer is provided withan opening while said sear detent comprises incombination: a searadapted to move in said case in a direction at right angles to that ofthe hammer and provided with a pawl adapted to engage in said opening, aspring acting on said sear to cause said pawl to penetrate into saidopening, a disc provided with a trip nose fixed on the spindle of saidcocking lever and an abutment secured to the sear in such a positionthat at the end of the travel of said lever the sear is moved by saidnose against the action of said spring, there by releasing the hammer.

4. A breech according to claim 1, wherein said cocking finger is incontact with a rear extension of said hammer in a rear-ward axialdirection, at a point located between its axis of rotation and its pointof contact with the pusher.

5. A breech according to claim 1, wherein said cocking finger is incontact with a rear extension of said hammer, in a rearward axialdirection, at a point located between its axis of rotation and its pointof contact with the pusher, said finger having, at the point where it isin contact with said hammer, a domed cross-sectional shape which isfairly nearly circular, so that the perpendicular which is common tothis cross-section and to the hammer at their point of contactconstantly extends in a direction which is as nearly as possible that ofthe axis of said hammer.

6. A breech according to claim 1 wherein said percussion devicecomprises a front striker and a rear thrust element connected by a hookto said striker, said element ending at the rear by a bufier knobprovided with a rear head located before said hammer which is providedwith a front hook disposed before said rear head, said means for movingsaid percussion device comprising a lever which ends in the shape of afork straddling said bufier knob.

JOSEPH RAYMOND JASSE. (References on following page)

